Land of WhatMightHaveBeen
by Aerohead
Summary: Boq stays with Nessarose, and learns to love her. They live a good life together…until their daughter turns seventeen. Done as a dare by my friend, kire evoli.
1. Change of Heart

Title: Land of What-Might-Have-Been

Author: Aerohead

Email: in my profile

Website: In my profile

Pairing: Nessarose/Boq. Yeah, you saw right. Also Fiyero/Elphaba and Fiyero/Glinda

Rating: PG – PG13

Disclaimer/Dedication: For L. Frank Baum, Gregory Maguire, Stephen Schwartz, and Winnie Holtzman who own this idea that I'm extending. Thank you for giving me the first part.

Warning: I have gone past the point of sanity. That's the only real warning. 

Genre: Romance, AU, and they _really_ need an "Insanity" section here.

Summary: Boq stays with Nessarose, and learns to love her. They live a good life together…until their daughter turns seventeen.

Author's Notes: Okay, so, this story springs out of a really weird scenario. You see, my friends and I call ourselves by the witches of Wicked for fun. It also helps my best friend of nearly three years and I both have the same name. Anyway, my friend, who's our Nessarose, was reading _Eye For An Eye_, and thought it was too sad. Well, this sprung a whole discussion about what would happen if Boq actually fell in love with Nessarose once his captivity as a Munchkin was abolished. I said I'd write the story once my friend wrote a story for her fandom, _Phantom of the Opera_, and…well, as of today, she has. So, I guess I have to actually start this thing. I apologize to everyone in advance, and I hope you enjoy my little world of depravity. And yes, my characters from _One if by Land, Two if by Sky_ do come into play here, but as this will take place maybe three or four years after those events, they will no longer be attending Shiz. So…that means there are spoilers for _When Your Dreams Come True_.

Change of Heart

Nessarose wheeled herself away from Boq, holding the small hand mirror as she stopped near her armoire. Boq stood, uncertain, near the doorway. He held his body straight, though he was shaking. He never did well in Nessarose's presence; at least he hadn't done well recently. He seemed to always say something to anger her, and the governess' wrath was not something he could mentally endure again.

"Will there be anything else, Madame?" he asked hesitantly.

The hand mirror fell to her lap, and the smile that graced her rose-colored lips turned into a scowl as she turned her chair half-way around to face him. He thought there was a glimmer of something – he secretly hoped it was grief – flicker in her brown eyes, and she licked her lower lip. She straightened, and looked down upon him, and the grief he had perhaps seen was gone instantaneously. "I've asked you to call me Nessarose, remember?" she asked, her voice bordering on the condescending.

He swallowed past the lump in his throat, the lump that always arose when he knew he had forsaken his freedom another time, and he bowed curtly. "Yes, Madame." He turned on his heel and left, not bothering to acknowledge the feeble calling of his name from behind him.

Nessarose allowed the hand she had lifted to hail Boq back to fall, and she slumped in her chair. Regaining her composer, she wheeled herself so that she was looking not only in her hand mirror, but also the full-length mirror of the armoire, and ran a hand through her pulled back hair. She smiled pleasantly at her reflection.

"Well, it seems the beautiful only get more beautiful, while the green just get greener." Nessarose wheeled herself back at the mocking voice coming from her armoire, and stared in horror as Elphaba made her presence known.

Nessarose's mind reeled at the possibilities this meant. Elphaba must have heard the conversation between Nessarose and Boq, which meant she must have heard how terribly the Munchkins were being treated…Nessarose shook her head; she didn't have time to panic. She needed Elphaba out of the mansion as fast as possible, so that the elder Thropp wouldn't get suspicious of the younger's behavior as a ruler.

Elphaba mistook her sister's pale expression, and crossed the floor to her quickly. "I'm sorry, did I scare you? I seem to have that effect on people." Nessarose stayed quiet, and Elphaba looked at her peculiarly. "It's good to see you."

Nessarose looked up at her sister defiantly. "What are you doing here?" she demanded, trying to stall so her brain could more easily function and think up a plan to get rid of the green woman.

Elphaba fell to her sister's feet, and grasped Nessarose's hands, completely catching the pale woman off-guard. "Well, there's no place like home." Elphaba said, almost child-like. She clutched Nessarose's hands tightly, and hugged her sister close. "I never thought I'd hear myself say this…but I need father's help. I…need him to stand with me." She said, her voice cracking.

Nessarose bit her lip as she shook her head. "That's impossible." She said, her voice hoarse.

Elphaba looked up at Nessarose, who wouldn't catch her eyes. "No, no it's not, not if you ask him. You know he'll listen to you."

"Father's dead." Nessarose said flatly.

Elphaba stopped mid-sentence to stare at Nessarose. "What?"  
Nessarose sucked in a breath; Elphaba was staying far too long and Boq could be back at any moment. "He's dead. I'm the governor…" Elphaba rose slowly, still staring at Nessarose with wide coal eyes. "Well, what did you expect?" Nessarose asked coldly. "After he learned what you'd done…how you disgraced us, he died," she sobbed dryly, "of shame; embarrassed to death."

Elphaba stared at Nessarose coolly for a moment, before nodding. "Good. I'm glad. It's better that way."

Nessarose wheeled herself back so she had a proper view of her tall sibling. She was appalled at what Elphaba had said. "That's a wicked thing to say." She said, her voice low.

Elphaba turned, her face suddenly pinched. "No, it's true." Her voice was as low as Nessarose's, but there was a glimmer of hope, a faint glimmer of something intangible to Nessarose, and it unnerved the younger Thropp. "Because now it's just us. You can help me and we can…"

Nessarose shut her eyes, her anger with her sister and with Boq's lack of attention towards her building into one large outburst. "Elphaba, shut up!" Elphaba's mouth hung open, but no words came out. Nessarose opened her eyes and glared at her sister, her teeth gritted together. "First of all," Nessarose said, trying to regain her control, "I can't harbor a fugitive, I'm an un-elected official!" She looked her sister up and down, before wheeling towards her. "And why should I help you? You fly around Oz, trying to rescue Animals you've never met, and not once have you ever thought to use your powers to rescue me." Elphaba started to speak, but Nessarose shook her head, barely restraining herself. "All of my life I've depended on you, how do you think that feels?" She demanded. "All of my life I've depended on you and this hideous chair with wheels." She banged a fist against the wooden armrest of her wheelchair. "Scrounging for scraps of pity to pick up and longing to kick up my heels…" She petered out of her rant, losing steam.

Elphaba looked at her sister reproachfully. "Nessa, there isn't a spell for everything! The power is mysterious. It's not like cobbling up a pair of…" she stared at the silver slippers their father had given Nessarose so many years ago, before a twisted smile touched the edges of her lips and she tore open the Grimmerie as she stooped on the floor and began to chant.

Nessarose stared at her sister with apprehension. "What is that?" She sucked in a breath as a pain shot through her useless right leg. "My shoes! It feels like…like they're on fire!" She watched as the silver melted away and the surface of the slippers become ruby red with heat. She grasped her ankle in pain, before suddenly registering that she could feel pain in her leg. She let go of her ankle quickly, and her mouth hung open in shock and bewilderment. She turned her gaze onto her chanting sister. "What are you doing to my shoes?" she demanded.

She had a sudden idea. She pulled herself out of her wheelchair and tried to walk to Elphaba, but fell. Elphaba grasped her and tried to help, but Nessarose struggled out of the grasp like a petulant child. "No, don't help me." She stood ungracefully, and stayed on her long-since useless legs. She put her hands to her mouth to keep from crying out with joy.

She heard Elphaba said and mutter to herself, but she wasn't paying attention. She ran, rather stiffly, to the cluttered table her ablutionary items were strewn on. In the process of grabbing the bell she used to call servants to her, she knocked over a large plaid umbrella of no real import. She kicked it, loving the new feeling of being able to _do_ things with her legs, as she rang the bell. "Boq! Boq! Come Quickly!" she called into the vast recesses of the mansion.

"Boq?" said Elphaba, before trying to reopen the door of the armoire.

Nessarose ignored the strangled sound of her sister's voice as she rang the bell more urgently. "Boq! Come here at once!" she called.

Elphaba ran over to her sister and grabbed her wrist. "No! Nessa, listen, no one can know I'm here." She hissed.

Nessarose pulled out of Elphaba's grasp. She turned the wheelchair so that it was facing away from the entrance to the room, before she hid behind the armoire. Boq came running in, panting. "Yes, what is it, Madame?" he asked, not seeing Elphaba.

Elphaba stared in horror at the servant's outfit Boq was in. "Boq…?" she said, her voice faint.

He stared at her, before picking up a pair of scissors. "What are you doing here?" he demanded, searching the room frantically for Nessarose. "You stay back."

Elphaba held her hands up. "Boq, it's just me, I'm not going to hurt you."

Boq let out a cruel laugh. "No, you're lying. That's all you ever do….you….and your sister." He swallowed hard, turning his back on the wheelchair. "She's as wicked as you are!" He said, but it was half-hearted.

Elphaba threw her hands in the air, now thoroughly disgusted with the whole inane situation. "What are you talking about?" she groused.

Boq let his eyes drop the floor. "I'm talking about my life, the little that's left of it." He said, leaning against the wheelchair. He looked up at Elphaba, shaking his head as he pet the back of the chair. "I'm not free to leave Munchkinland anymore; none of us are. Ever since she took power, she's been stripping the Munchkins of our rights, and we didn't have that many to begin with." He hit the chair hard, before advancing on Elphaba. "And do you know why?"

"To keep you here with me; but none of that matters anymore." Boq spun around and stared in the empty chair. Nessarose giggled. "Look." She said, and Boq's head shot up to where she was standing. Then he turned to Elphaba, a large smile spreading across his face.

"You did this for her?" he asked.

Nessarose grabbed his hand. "For both of us!" she said, smiling brightly. He turned and looked at her. He hadn't seen her smile that wide since he had asked her to the dance their first year at Shiz.

"This…changes everything!" he said.

"I know!" she said, holding his hand tighter. He turned to Elphaba, before looking around the house. He smiled to himself. He knew of a way both he and Nessarose could get what they want, if she agreed to the terms. He turned back to Nessarose, who was still smiling, and felt suddenly…different. Changed, somehow. He couldn't exactly explain it, but suddenly his perspective on the young woman standing in front of him had changed in his moment of hesitation. Maybe he didn't love her, but if he allowed himself to realize that there was someone attainable who loved him, instead of Glinda, who had shown him time and again that she thought of him as an acquaintance only, then maybe they would have a chance together.

But he needed her to do something for him, first.

"Nessa, I'll stay with you." He said. Her smile grew, but he shook his head. "On two conditions; first you allow Elphaba to stay here."

"No," Elphaba said, already starting towards the window she had entered by.

"But Elphie…" Nessarose started.

Elphaba shook her head. "There are winged monkeys in the Emerald City that need me more than I need amnesty. Take care of each other." She said, before leaving through the window.

"Well, what's the second condition?" Nessarose asked, worried.

Boq looked at their entwined hands. "Give the Munchkins their freedom back, and allow them to leave Munchkinland."

Nessarose nodded. "I'll make the pronouncement tomorrow morning." She promised.

Boq nodded, before walking over to the chair, where he had left the scissors, and put them back on the table. He looked around the room, before shaking his head. "This is going to take some getting used to." He said to himself.


	2. Birth

Title: Land of What-Might-Have-Been

Author: Aerohead

Email: in my profile

Website: In my profile

Pairing: Nessarose/Boq. Yeah, you saw right. Also Fiyero/Elphaba and Fiyero/Glinda

Rating: PG – PG13

Disclaimer/Dedication: For L. Frank Baum, Gregory Maguire, Stephen Schwartz, and Winnie Holtzman who own this idea that I'm extending. Thank you for giving me the first part.

Warning: I have gone past the point of sanity. That's the only real warning.

Genre: Romance, AU, and they _really_ need an "Insanity" section here.

Summary: Boq stays with Nessarose, and learns to love her. They live a good life together…until their daughter turns seventeen.

Author's Notes: Well, blame kire elovi for yet another chapter of insanity. She wrote a chapter two for _Muse_, so I have to write a chapter two for this. Now, for those of you wondering, Maeve will be about Thane's age, so she's five years younger than Fabala. Yes, I'm using my own characters also. I'll also explain what happened to Dorothy throughout the story, but there is no Wizard. Also, the government set up in my others stories is not in this one. Instead of Glinda, Dorothy, and Ozma its Glinda, Elphaba, Nessarose, and Ozma rules as princess over all of them. Think of the witches as the vice presidents while Ozma is the president. (bad, bad analogy.)

Chapter Two: Birth

"Elphaba, I'm fine." Nessarose griped. Her elder sister glared down at her, before putting the small green bundle in her arms down.

"You're supposed to go into labor any minute, Nessa, you are not fine." Elphaba said pointedly. Nessarose sighed and allowed herself to be laid down on the bed. She and Boq had been living together for five years, and two years previous had gotten married.

She hated being pregnant, even if it were her first child. She had seen the birth of her sister's son only a week earlier, and she couldn't believe Elphaba was already up and rejuvenated. Of course, Elphaba had given birth before, so perhaps she was just…used to it? Nessarose had to suppress a giggle at that. She wouldn't be surprised if Elphaba didn't even register the pain of labor, and the screams of a week ago were just her sister acting.

"Does she need anything?" Glinda asked as she scurried into the room. Elphaba handed Thane to Glinda.

"_He_ needs to be changed." She said.

"Oh…" Glinda stared at Thane for a moment, before nodding. "I'll get the staff right on it."

Elphaba glared at her younger sister. "Tell me again; why did we have to come to the Emerald City for you to give birth?"

Nessarose shrugged and made herself comfortable on the cot. "I don't know; I just wanted to come here." She said. Elphaba let out a blustery sigh and stormed out of the room. "Where are you going?" Nessarose demanded.

"To get a midwife. I don't know how to _help_. I've been on the giving end twice, never the receiving end." She said, turning to lean on the doorframe.

"What about when Glinda gave birth to Nissa?" Nessarose asked. The green woman shrugged.

"Well, that was because Fiyero wanted to be there. I didn't set foot into that room until it was over. It's bad luck."

Nessarose giggled. "You just don't want to watch." Elphaba stormed out of the room, and Nessarose sighed, falling back onto the bed. She stared at the ceiling for a few moments, before picking up the book Glinda had given her; it was her Book of Records. But it had names of every person in the world, and Nessarose thought it may be useful, as she and Boq still hadn't come up with a name for their child yet.

Nessarose found a name and smiled to herself, before ringing in the small bell next to her bed. Almost immediately, Elphaba, Glinda, Fiyero, and Boq, along with an assortment of servants. "Boq," she said, and the small man pulled through the rest of the crowd to Nessarose.

"What is it?" he asked, before his eyes widened and he jumped away suddenly. "You're not in labor are you? Really, I don't want to be here when you have the baby…I don't think I could handle it…"

"Boq, I found a name." Nessarose said slowly, as if Boq were an infant.

He stared at her, shocked, before blinking as his mind registered the comment. "Ah…you did? Well, that's…that's great! What is it?" he asked.

Nessarose handed him the book, and pointed to the name. "Well, I found a name if we have a girl." She said.

"Maeve?" Boq read. Nessarose nodded. Boq stared at the name for a moment, before nodding. "Maeve…Owe…Nessa, let go!" Boq said, trying to pry his hand out of Nessarose's as she suddenly squeezed his hand.

Nessarose pulled Boq close to her, her hazel eyes dark with pain. "Get…Elphaba…now." She said through grit teeth. Boq nodded quickly, thankful to be let go of. He picked up the bell and moved it onto a table across the room where an umbrella Nessarose would not throw away was lain, before looking at Nessarose once more.

He ran out the door, and leaned against the wall where Nessarose couldn't see him. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply, trying to calm his frazzled nerves. "Is it always this hard to be the _father_?" he asked the Unnamed One.

"Yes, it is." Fiyero said as he came to stop in front of Boq, whose eyes opened wide. He let out a shuddering breath and shook his head, a small smile of relief as he laughed.

"I thought you were…" he pointed to the ceiling and the blonde Winkie raised an eyebrow as he leaned against the wall, his arms crossed. Boq shook his head and put his hand down. "Meh…never mind. Where's Elphaba?" he asked.

Fiyero shrugged, but pushed away from the wall. "I don't know."

"BOQ, GET MY SISTER NOW!" Nessarose screamed from the bedroom. Fiyero stared at the ajar door, before backing away. "I don't do well with pregnant women…let's find Elphie." He said, before tugging the shorter man away from the door.

"Is it really always this bad?" Boq asked, miserable.

"It can be worse, sometimes," he caught his companion pale considerably, and laughed. "_You _have Elphaba and Glin…you have Elphaba here to help. I had Chistery and myself when Fabala was born. Be glad you actually have one capable human helping." He scratched the back of his head. "And…well…Glinda…means well?" he tried.

"I suppose." Boq said as they entered the small sitting room the women had assembled in. Elphaba was holding Thane, trying to get the squalling boy to sleep, while Glinda was trying to braid her daughter's hair.

"Mommy!" Nissa cried, trying desperately to claw away from her mother. "I don't want my hair braided, not by you!"

Boq stared at the children in sudden realization. "Fiyero…have you ever considered celibacy?" he asked idly.

"Why?" Fiyero asked, before looking at the three children he had sired. "Oh…you mean…?" He coughed, before moving across the room towards Elphaba. "Boq wants to talk to you."

Elphaba nodded and walked over to Boq, while Nissa finally got away from her mother, and hid behind Fiyero's legs. "Daddy, Mommy wants to braid my hair and she can't do it right."

Fiyero squatted down so that he was Nissa's height, and cocked his head as he looked at her, obvious amusement in his eyes. "Really? Well, who can braid your hair right?" Nissa pointed mutely to the small black girl sitting in an armchair with a small Munchkin picture book. "Fabala can?" Fiyero asked, and Nissa nodded. "Well, why don't you ask her to braid your hair for you?"

"She says she's _reading_." Nissa said, disgust evident in the five-year-old's voice.

Fiyero laughed. "Well, did you ask her if she could do it when she was done?" he asked.

"No." Nissa crossed her arms and pouted in a similar way to her mother. Fiyero shook his head and stood, petting her blonde head lightly.

"So, you wanted to talk to me?" Elphaba asked. Boq jumped, not really paying attention, and caught the weary look of his queer childhood friend.

"Nessarose has called for you; she's in labor." He shook his hand. "At least that's what I interpreted when she nearly broke my hand off." He said, laughing weakly.

Elphaba let out a sigh. She turned to her companions, and nodded to Glinda. "Well, we're needed. Could you get the midwife while I go make sure Nessarose hasn't gotten…" The sound of a bell rang out into the air.

"I moved that bell." Boq muttered.

"…out of bed…" Elphaba let out a growl of irritation, and held out Thane. Boq looked at the infant blankly, and Elphaba rolled her eyes. "Take him, Boq, so I can go help your _wife _give _birth_ to _your_ child." She said.

"Oh…right." Boq said, taking the baby and holding him at arm's length. Elphaba rubbed her temples.

"Fiyero?" she turned, and her husband stood quickly.

"Yes, Fae?" he asked as he started over to her. She pointed to Boq.

"Show him how to at least correctly hold an infant while we're gone." She said.

"Right." He said, watching Elphaba and Glinda leave. He turned to Boq, and started laughing outright. "You look scared."

"Terrified." Said Boq, "Would you mind taking it from me?" he asked.

"It's not an 'it', Boq, it's a boy, like us." Fiyero said, but he went over and took Thane from Boq. He held the green baby boy gently and protectively. Boq blinked and stared at Fiyero, surprised. The man – the tall, blonde man who looked almost exactly as he had when they were seventeen – could not possibly both the same carefree prince and a protective father of three wrapped together.

"…and if I taught Lord Bromley," the name was said with a large amount of disdain, as if his ex-fiancé could have done much better than the Lord of Dixi House, "how to take care of children when Nissa was a baby, I should be able to teach someone I like…I never thought I'd be a teacher." Fiyero shrugged, not noticing that Boq hadn't been paying attention.

"Okay, so what do I do?" Boq asked. Fiyero looked down and smiled happily and he held Thane with one arm and played with the baby with the other.

"First and foremost, love them."

"That's easy."

Fiyero looked up, something rather blank there. "Not all parents love their children…" he looked back down, "Frex and Melena never loved Elphaba." He pointed out.

Boq bit his lip, before walking over to Fiyero. "Can I try?" he asked. Fiyero looked unsure for a moment, before nodding.

"Now, be careful…and, and hold him like you would anything delicate." He said. Boq laughed, holding Thane the same way Fiyero had been.

"You think I'm really stupid, don't you?" he asked.

"No, not _really_ stupid." Fiyero said, not really paying attention. He crossed his arms and looked sternly at the girls. "Now, it's your bedtime." He said.

Nissa looked scandalized. "I don't want to go to bed!" She wailed.

Fabala also looked up from her book, her bright blue eyes wide. "I'm nearly done, Daddy." She said, "can't I stay up for just five more minutes."

Fiyero smirked. "Well, I guess five more minutes won't hurt. Just don't tell your mothers." He said. He turned to Boq, "Glinda I can handle, she's not my wife. It's Elphaba I'm scared of."

"I don't blame you." Boq said, sitting down with Thane.

Five minutes slowly ebbed away into five hours, when a flustered and unkempt Elphaba and a very pale Glinda retreated into the sitting room.

Boq jumped up and looked at Elphaba, almost scared by her quiet demeanor. "Well?" he asked.

"Fiyero, why aren't the girls in bed?" She asked. Fiyero jumped up; he had fallen asleep with his two daughters on the couch, where he had been conned into reading to them from a book about fairies that Fabala had found.

"Whu…hu…oh, Elphie…Well, they were being so good, and they were worried about Nessa and…"

"You fell for Fabala's 'five more minutes' routine again, didn't you?" Elphaba asked, deadpan.

"Miss Elphie? My wife? My baby?" Boq asked. Elphaba turned to Boq, surprised that he was there, and took Thane from him without answering. Boq shook his arm, trying to lose the feeling of pins jabbing up his arm. "Well?" he asked again.

Elphaba smiled. "It's a girl. Master Boq, you are now a father." She said.


	3. Seven

Title: Land of What-Might-Have-Been

Author: Aerohead

Email: in my profile

Website: In my profile

Pairing:  Nessarose/Boq. Yeah, you saw right. Also Fiyero/Elphaba and Fiyero/Glinda

Rating: PG – PG13

Disclaimer/Dedication: For L. Frank Baum, Gregory Maguire, Stephen Schwartz, and Winnie Holtzman who own this idea that I'm extending. Thank you for giving me the first part.

Warning: I have gone past the point of sanity. That's the only real warning.

Genre: Romance, AU, and they _really_ need an "Insanity" section here.

Summary: Boq stays with Nessarose, and learns to love her. They live a good life together…until their daughter turns seventeen.

Author's Notes: Oi. Well, I don't want to get to when Maeve is attending Shiz until chapter four, because I want to play with Boq and Nessa some more. So…seven-year-old Maeve with haggard Nessa and Boq, at your service. Again, this chapter is because kire evoli wrote chapter three of _Muse_, so I have to write chapter three of this. . Yeah. Here's a note to all of you: never make a bet you didn't want to keep. This story's cute, but I miss my poor Nessa tragedy. Thanks to everyone who's reviewed. I also thank you for your kindness, as the reviews I'm getting (along with kire evoli's constant pokes) are what are making me want to write. And since I've had writer's block for a while, it's kind of fun to get more reviews. Oh, if you notice, in every chapter there's a random umbrella? Yes, that's the Umbrella of Doom. Um, the "Maeve Boqsdaughter" is taken from the old ways of giving people last names; either your last name would be your family's trade, or your father's name, then 'son' or 'daughter' at the end, depending on your gender. So, I'd either be "Rachel Writer" or "Rachel Davidsdaughter" Yeah…since Boq has no last name that I've ever seen, and I've read the book four times (I may have forgotten it, though, since I haven't read it since the summer), so I just did that…besides, I do last names matrilineal in these stories anyway. And if you're exceedingly lost about what's going on, it's a slightly different version of _Entertaining Destiny_, so you know.

Chapter Three: Seven

It was Maeve's seventh birthday. That meant there were only nine years, eleven months, and two hundred and forty-three days until Maeve was going to be a freshman at Shiz. Not that Nessarose was counting.

Nessarose was leaning against the doorframe of her daughter's room. In just a few hours' time, they would have a small family party that was for the small brunette asleep in the bed.

Nessarose sighed, before stepping into the room. She ran a hand over her deep blue skirt, ignoring the reflection of the ruby slippers as her skirt moved. She cut the feed to the oil lamp, before gently shaking Maeve.

"Hey there, wake up." She whispered, pulling the covers off of her daughter.

"Mmmfff…mom…" Maeve groaned, before curling into a tight ball. Nessarose felt her lips twitch in amusement.

"Up, now, or you won't get any cake. And you won't get any presents, either." She said, starting to walk out of the room. Her gait was slow and her quivering on her feet, even after twelve years of walking, was visible.

Maeve pulled herself out of bed quickly and went over to her dresser. She took a pretty light pink dress out of the top drawer and pulled it on while Nessarose watched. Nessarose lowered her eyes before slipping out of the room and walking towards the parlor where the small family party was going to be. Boq was already in there, looking at something.

"What's that?" Nessarose asked. Boq looked up at her, before he held it up.

"It's Elphaba's letter from a few years ago." He said, going back to it. He stood up and looked up at Nessarose. "Do you think it was a good idea to have this party after…that, Nessa?" he asked.

Nessarose shrugged, taking the letter from Boq and putting it back in the book she had hidden it in, wondering briefly how Boq had found it, as she never had told him where it was before.

"This party was Elphaba's idea. '_They only turn seven once, Nessa, and then they start to become adults_' that's exactly what she wrote in her letter last month." Nessarose smiled to herself, and turned to Boq. "Please, try and tiptoe around that subject." She said.

Boq threw his hands up in the air. "How in Lurline's name am I supposed to 'tiptoe' around it?" he asked. "What if they bring it up?" he said, his voice quieter, when he caught the hurt look that passed across Nessarose's features.

Nessarose shook her head as she exited the room. "They won't bring it up." She said, nodding to herself. "To lose something like that…they won't want to talk about it." Nessarose grabbed a large plaid umbrella before walking out of the mansion.

It was raining, and the sky was dark. At first she tipped her head back, loving the feel of walking in the rain, but soon she opened the umbrella and headed quickly to the road.

She could see a carriage off in the distance. It looked weather-beaten and decayed. The horses pulling it were old and nondescript, while the driver was hump-backed and looked harassed. She watched the carriage come into existence on the winding road of yellow, and hailed the driver. She didn't know if he saw her or not, but at any rate the horses stopped, not being able to take another step.

"Nessa!" said Elphaba as she stepped out of the carriage. Fiyero was right behind her.

"Here, I brought this so Fabala wouldn't get wet." She said.

Elphaba smiled and hugged her sister. Nessarose stood there for a moment, unsure of what to do. Fiyero also looked slightly unsure, but instead of helping his sister-in-law out of the predicament, he merely took the umbrella and looked inside the carriage.

"Come on, everyone out." Fabala came out, taking the umbrella from her father. Nessarose stared at the girl as Elphaba let go of her. The twelve-year-old was much taller than she had been the last time Nessarose had seen her, and now, lining her arms and neck, there were blue diamonds the same sapphire blue as her eyes. She turned back into the carriage and then turned to Nessarose.

"Aunt Nessa?" she asked. Nessarose blinked at the formality. She wanted to make a comment about how much Fabala acted like her mother, but she didn't think the comment would be appreciated. Instead she looked at the young girl.

"Yes, Fabala?" she asked politely.

"This is my friend, Aran." She said, as a young boy stepped out of the carriage. Nessarose's lips twitched, and she turned to Elphaba, who nodded once.

"Why, hello, Aran." She said to the Quadling boy, who was looking at her nervously.

"Aran doesn't do well with new people." Elphaba explained curtly.

"Ah…I see that." Nessarose said. Fiyero came over to the women; he had been conversing with the driver.

"So, are we going to stand out in the rain all day, or are we going to some lucky little girl's birthday party?" he asked.

Nessarose nodded and made her way towards the governor's mansion. She turned back to where Fabala and Aran were, sharing the large umbrella. "They're rather amiable, aren't they?" she asked.

Elphaba looked up at Nessarose, dazed. "I suppose so." She said. She shook her head. "I just wish they could have met under better circumstances, however."

Nessarose nodded, still watching the two children. Fabala cringed, and Aran grabbed her. Nessarose shook her head, before turning and opening the door to the mansion.

"Nessa, I thought you took an umbrella! You're soaking!" Boq said, looking up from his place in front of the fireplace. He had Maeve in his lap, and was reading a book to her.

Nessarose ran a hand through her hair, getting the little excess water there was out of it. "I'm not soaked, Boq." She said.

"Well, where's the umbrella?" Boq asked.

Nessarose pointed to Fabala as she came through the door. "Fabala has it." She said.

"Ah." He said, nodding. Then he smiled, though it was obvious that it was half-hearted. "Well, what should we do now?" he asked, mostly to himself.

"Presents!" said Maeve, getting off of her father's lap and running over to Elphaba and Fiyero. Aran watched the small brunette, and Fabala watched him as she put away the umbrella. "You did bring a present for me, didn't you?" she asked, looking from Elphaba to Fiyero.

Fiyero shrugged, before holding out a lumpy wrapped thing. "That depends; are you _sure_ you're Maeve Thropp?" he asked. "Or are you Maeve Boqsdaughter? Because I can only give this present to the girl with either one of those names." He leaned toward Maeve and winked at her as he pointed towards Elphaba, "she'll turn me into a toad if I give this present to the wrong girl." He said.

"Fiyero, don't go putting nonsense like that into her head." Elphaba groused.

"See? I told you." He said, giving Maeve the present. She smiled and opened it. It was a pretty, light blue skirt. "Open it up." Fiyero urged. Maeve did as she was told, and found a delicate silver bracelet inside.

"It's so pretty!" she gushed, hugging the skirt while putting the bracelet on.

Nessarose and Boq looked at Fiyero and Elphaba. "You really didn't have to give her that." Nessarose said, staring not at the skirt but at the bracelet.

Elphaba shrugged. "Well, what was I going to do with it? I don't wear jewelry and besides, I'm sure Mother would much rather I had the little green bottle and your daughter had her bracelet." She watched Maeve closely for a few more moments, before sighing.

Nessarose looked at her sister, before lowering her voice. "Did you tell Glinda about the Gale Force?" she asked. Elphaba nodded, though it was slow. "What did she say?"

"They're making Quadling Country and the Vinkus protected areas, and banning slave trade." She shrugged. "But I wish she could have seen this coming."

Nessarose hugged her sister quickly, before letting out a hum. "Everything happens for a reason." She said after a few moments.

Elphaba smirked. "True. For all we know, that brat's house should have fallen on you. Then what would happen?"

"Oh, she'd just be the savior of Oz." Nessarose suppressed her laughter at the thought of the farm girl of twelve years ago being a hero. She looked barely old enough to be called a young girl.

The party progressed at a natural party speed, and soon Elphaba announced that it was time to leave. She and Nessarose hugged again – it was still peculiar to Nessarose to see her sister so loving – and then the small troupe left in the same rickety carriage they had arrived in. Nessarose stood just outside of the doorway, watching the carriage leave.

"Look," said Boq, pointing to the sky. Nessarose stared at the clearing sky, and smiled.

"Momma, it's a rainbow!" Maeve said. Nessarose nodded, watching as it appeared over the carriage as it slowly drifted out of sight.


	4. Seventeen

Title: Land of What-Might-Have-Been

Author: Aerohead

Email: in my profile

Website: In my profile

Pairing: Nessarose/Boq. Yeah, you saw right. Also Fiyero/Elphaba and Fiyero/Glinda

Rating: PG – PG13

Disclaimer/Dedication: For L. Frank Baum, Gregory Maguire, Stephen Schwartz, and Winnie Holtzman who own this idea that I'm extending. Thank you for giving me the first part.

Warning: I have gone past the point of sanity. That's the only real warning.

Genre: Romance, AU, and they _really_ need an "Insanity" section here.

Summary: Boq stays with Nessarose, and learns to love her. They live a good life together…until their daughter turns seventeen.

Author's Notes: _To Kire Evoli ­_– Hehe. Yeah, I know, I made the bet. I'm just saying it's my own stupidity. 'Tis fun, though. I still have that picture you drew of Nessa holding the Umbrella of Doom and glaring at Glinda in the bubble and Elphaba on her broom. I also have the Nazi-Jackman picture, but we won't get into that in an Author's Notes. Also – you think _Maeve_'s a ditz? Hah. Just wait.

_To jlauren1224 _– Thanks for the compliment. I love writing, but I'm rather paranoid about the way it will be accepted by people, so I usually only show my writing to my friends. With the Wicked stories, it's the first time in a long time I'm actually trying to finish something I've written to see how well it will be received.

And to my Phantom reviews (takes on a lot of new meaning when I'm matching chapter for chapter a Phantom of the Opera fic) – Any ideas that you have will be greatly appreciated, and if you have any helpful hints on which way this story should go, I'd love to hear them. Well, now I suppose I have to start chapter four and stop with the writer's notes, seeing as I'm nearly done with one page just with this. --

Chapter Four: Seventeen

Maeve stood outside of the Palace of the Emerald City, just staring at the façade. People were pushing past her on either side without a second glance, and many of them muttered various remarks about annoying youngsters who didn't know propriety within the City.

She didn't care, though. She suddenly took off, nearly tripping in her travel boots and long deep purple skirt.

In twenty-four hours she'd be in University Station.

She laughed to herself, before stopping in front of the door to the Palace. Why, exactly, was she here? Her mother had some "important business" in the Emerald City, so she and her father had come there a week earlier. Maeve shrugged. Perhaps she was just lonely.

With all the strength she could muster, she pushed the door to the Palace open, and stepped inside. It was oddly quiet in the main hall, and when she cleared her throat the sound reverberated. "Mother?" she called into the silence.

Her mother didn't answer, but a short blonde woman stood at the steps. "Maeve? Oh, it's wonderful to see you! I haven't seen you since you were…well, that's not important, I'm sure you get it all the time. You've grown so pretty! You look like your mother at that age…well, with one obvious difference." The woman hurried down the stairs and looked at Maeve. She was about a head shorter than the seventeen-year-old, and was about a year old than her mother was.

"I…get that all the time…Miss…?" she stared at the woman for a moment.

Blue eyes blinked, before she laughed demurely. "Oh, Glinda Upland of the Arduennas." She said, "Or Glinda the Good." She shook her head, blonde ringlets bouncing. "But you've come to see your mother, I suppose? She's upstairs with Elphie."

Maeve raised an eyebrow. "_Elphie?_" she repeated, bewildered. Then she cleared her throat. "Oh, you mean Aunt Elphaba?" Maeve said, correcting Glinda.

Glinda cocked her head, before shaking it. "Really, Elphie _must_ be less stoic! She's going to die young if she keeps such a level head." Maeve stared at the middle-aged witch, before skittering around her and quickly heading up the stairs. "Miss Maeve!"

Maeve turned, looking at Glinda. "Yes, Miss Glinda?"

"You're mother is in the second door on the left." She said. "I'm also getting one of the maids to make lunch; would you like anything?"

Maeve shook her head, curtseying quickly. "No, thank you, Miss Glinda." She said, before slowing her pace to find the room her mother was in.

"Second door on the left…" she stared at the door, before creeping over and knocking on it. "Mother, are you in there?"

The door opened, and Nessarose stood there. She was beaming and holding a small baby in her arms. Maeve stared at the baby, mouth agape, and Nessarose moved so that Maeve could come into the room.

"A baby?" said Maeve after a few moments.

"_My_ baby, Maeve, get that look off of your face." Fabala said caustically as she rubbed her hands with a piece of coarse cloth.

"Oh…" Maeve blushed, and she heard the giggle of her cousin's half-sister.

Fabala sat down and held out her hands. Nessarose moved over and handed the young woman the baby. "I told you Fabala had a baby nearly a month and a half ago, Maeve." Nessarose said as she came over to Maeve. Maeve nodded mutely, as she couldn't actually remember when her mother had told her. "He's sick, so Elphaba, Glinda, and I are taking turns helping Fabala with him."

"It's really fun, Maeve, you should help, too." Fabala said sarcastically, before getting up and walking out of the room. With the arm she wasn't holding the baby with, she grabbed Nissa's arm. "Aunt Nessarose, we'll leave you with Maeve. I think Father and Aran are worried, so we'll go show them everything's fine. Would you like me to get Boq?" Fabala asked.

Maeve stared at the dark young woman; she had never heard her talk so fast before. Maybe it was the crunch of living with the Uplands for too long. But Nessarose understood, and nodded.

"Yes, could you send him in?" Fabala nodded and, with child and sibling, walked into a room connected to the one they were in.

Maeve sat down crossed-legged on the bed, while Nessarose made things neat in the room. When Boq came in, Nessarose jumped and smiled, before motioning for him to sit next to Maeve on the bed.

"So…" her father started, and he looked to her mother, who nodded. "You'll be going to Shiz today?" he said.

"Yeah, I will." Maeve said wistfully.

"We'll miss you, you know." Boq said, hugging Maeve to him. As a Munchkin of the stereotypical size, he was shorter than both his wife and his daughter, and it was a rather awkward hug, but he somehow managed it.

"I'll miss you, too." She said, hugging her father back. Nessarose, from her place leaning against an armoire, cleared her throat.

"I'd like to talk to my daughter, too, Boq." She said, her voice taking on the same tone she used as governor of Munchkinland.

Boq frowned, but merely hugged Maeve again and got up. "What do you want to talk to her _about_, Nessa?" he whispered as he walked by.

"Nothing important, but something between women only." Said Nessarose, not looking at Boq.

Boq made a noise very much like a harrumph, but left the room just the same. Nessarose and Maeve stayed in the positions they were, just staring at each other, until Nessarose heard the door click shut behind Boq. "You know," she started casually; "this was the room you were born in."

"Really?" squeaked Maeve. She had never actually been inside the palace made of emeralds and diamonds before, and knowing that she was sitting in the room she had been born in was rather…spooky.

Nessarose nodded, before turning and starting to rummage through the large top drawer of the armoire. Maeve watched her mother. Or, rather, she watched her mother's shoes. She had been told the story of how they had become magicked when she had once asked her mother why she always wore them. They were familiar to Maeve, and she was going to miss them.

Finally her mother moved away from the armoire, carrying a handful of things. She dropped them into Maeve's lap. "What are these?" Maeve asked.

"This," her mother said, pulling a large, floppy book out of the pile, "is my scrapbook from when I went to Shiz. Since I was always confined to my wheelchair, I decided to make this."

Maeve opened the scrapbook. Pasted into the book were many objects with her mother's curvy handwriting next to them explaining what they were. On the first page was a ticket stub from the caravan ride taken from Munchkinland to Gillikin, where Shiz resided. A few pages later there was a piece of crepe paper from the OZdust ballroom. And farther into the book, Maeve found a note from someone Maeve had never met – a Miss G_a_linda.

Nessarose gently took the book away and closed it, before putting it down next to her. She also removed the pile of junk from Maeve's lap. "You know, Elphaba's not the only one with sorcery skills." She said.

Maeve's eyes widened. "Really?" she asked.

Nessarose nodded. "After Elphaba left school, I took her place in sorcery classes." She pointed to the plaid umbrella tucked neatly next to the bed. "That umbrella, for instance. It was my father's old umbrella, and when he died, well, I kept it. But then I became governor of Munchkinland, and I wasn't that well-liked. So…" She smirked, "I spelled it so that, if anything happened to me while I had it opened, I'd be protected. That house that Dorothy girl nearly landed on me, you know. Lucky thing I had that umbrella."

Maeve laughed, before staring at the umbrella. It was an absurd story, and something that normally wouldn't be coming out of her mother's mouth, so she wondered why she was hearing this.

"Maeve," Nessarose said, tilting the girl's face so that she was looking at her. "I want you to take that umbrella with you to Shiz." She looked serious. "I also want you to promise me not to get into any trouble while you're there."

"I promise." Maeve said. Nessarose nodded, before checking the time on the large, green clock on the wall.

"Good, now, it's getting late. If you don't leave now, you'll miss your train." She hugged Maeve quickly, before pulling away. "I love you."

"I love you, too, Mother." She said, before taking the umbrella and leaving. As she hurried down the streets with her bag, she stared at the umbrella. "This is an absurd idea," she said to herself. "But…" she shrugged, and put the umbrella into her bag, forgetting about it as she reached the train station of the Emerald City.


	5. Shiz

Title: Land of What-Might-Have-Been

Author: Aerohead

Email: in my profile

Website: In my profile

Pairing: Nessarose/Boq. Yeah, you saw right. Also Fiyero/Elphaba and Fiyero/Glinda

Rating: PG – PG13

Disclaimer/Dedication: For L. Frank Baum, Gregory Maguire, Stephen Schwartz, and Winnie Holtzman who own this idea that I'm extending. Thank you for giving me the first part.

Warning: I have gone past the point of sanity. That's the only real warning.

Genre: Romance, AU, and they _really_ need an "Insanity" section here.

Summary: Boq stays with Nessarose, and learns to love her. They live a good life together…until their daughter turns seventeen.

Author's Notes: Well, I'm doing two chapters today because I have to catch up with kire evoli, as _Muse_ is already five chapters long. So…this chapter will take place at Shiz, which has the same staff as my other fanfics, so if you have read my other stories, you're golden. If not, then here's the staff I already have from them: Miss Greyling – Headmistress of Crage Hall and Sorcery teacher, Professor Timin – Headmaster of Briscoe Hall and teacher of both Life Sciences and History, Professor Agram – Briscoe Hall librarian, and finally Brother Endic – Theology professor. Also, I kind of have an inkling that "Maeve" is not a common name in Oz, so…well; I'll get into that in the text. At any rate, this is going to prove to be a hard chapter to write, as I now have to make up new characters. Well, this shall be fun. -- And if anyone knows who's last names Maeve is reading off, I will love you. (Alphabetical listings are annoying, just so everyone's well aware). I'm sorry this is a short chapter, but the next one will be longer.

Chapter Five: Shiz

The train's steam billowed around University Station, adding an eerie element to the already foreboding looking of the large, gray buildings. Maeve had never seen anything so…dismal, before in her life. She held her suitcase to her chest as she made her way up through the quad and into the center of the buildings.

Crage Hall she found easily, as it was the only college for girls to stay in on campus. Pushing a strand of light brown hair out of her face, she quickly skittered inside. In the main room of the building, a woman in her sixties stood. Her hair was silver and cut short – at one time it could have been blonde, Maeve decided – and she hard sparkling green eyes and what appeared to be a constant smile.

"Who are you, dear?" she asked as she saw Maeve come toward her.

"Thropp?" she said, mentally bemoaning the fact that her voice raised in pitch when she said it so that it came out as a question.

"Miss Maeve Thropp I presume?" the woman asked, going over her papers. She looked up and smiled as Maeve nodded. "You'll be in a two-person suite with a Miss…" she checked her papers over again, "ah, a Miss Farah Waneta."

"Thank you, Madame." Maeve said, starting away. The woman sent her a kind, but firm, smile.

"Oh, I'm no Madame. I'm Miss Greyling, your Headmistress." She said, handing Maeve a piece of paper.

"Oh! I'm terribly sorry, Miss!" she said, before hurrying off to her room. She wasn't exactly sure where it was, but she knew from her parents and cousin that there were nameplates on the doors.

She climbed the stairs to the second floor where the suites were, and slowly started going down the hall, reading off names. "Let's see…Abbott and Batchelder, Clark and Copleman, Cory and Enright, Hildebrant and Gringhuis, Hague and Hall, Hardy and Henderson – these are such strange names," Maeve said to herself, then she looked down the hall, realizing it was much longer than she had thought, and there were doors on both sides. She sighed, "Well, let's get back to work; Kennedy and Kerr, Kramer and Martin, McDougall and Miles, Morgan and Moser, Nuyttens and Parrish, Richardson and Rosenblum, Santore and Scott, Seymour and Spouse…ah-ha, Thropp and Waneta!" She smiled to herself before trying the door and successfully opening it.

Her roommate was already in there. The girl turned, and looked Maeve up and down. "You must be…_Maeve_." She said, saying Maeve's name as if it were something vulgar.

"And you must be Farah?" Maeve asked, walking past the girl to the empty bed. She sat down as she opened her bag.

"I must be." Farah said. Maeve watched the girl. She was obviously a Yunamata, by the tattoos Maeve could see on her neck. Her skin was light, like Fiyero's, but her hair and her eyes were very dark – her hair was deep chestnut and wavy, while her eyes were a deep violet – and her build was that of someone who had spent much of their youth learning to be a Yunamata warrior. She wore her hair short, and it made Maeve rather self-conscious about her own hair.

Maeve found a leather hair accessory Fiyero and Boq had given to her that was buried in her bag, and twisted her long light hair up and neatly pinned it back. She stood and started to unpack.

The umbrella clattered angrily to the floor, and Farah turned. She stared at it, her eyes wide, before her nose wrinkled. "What is that?" she asked.

"An umbrella." Said Maeve, before she kicked it under her bed decisively. Farah stared for a moment, before starting to make her bed. Maeve let out a small sigh before she started to put her things away and make her own bed.

"What classes do you have?" Farah asked after the silence between them had spanned nearly an hour. Maeve jumped, completely forgetting her roommate was still there.

"Oh…I don't know." She said, blushing. Farah rolled her eyes and held out a piece of torn paper.

"You didn't get a times-table from Miss Greyling?" she asked.

Maeve's mouth hung open for a moment, before her blush deepened. She dug the piece of paper out of the book she had put it in, and sat down on her bed, before looking at it.

"Well…um…I have History with Professor Timin, Unionist Teaching with Brother Endic, Life Sciences with Professor Timin, Agriculture with Madame Papaver, and Rhetoric with Professor Parola."

Farah nodded to herself, before cocking her head to one side as she considered Maeve lazily. "We have Rhetoric, History, and Life Sciences together." She said after a few moments. She stretched and started out the door. "On the other hand, I'm not taking Unionist Teaching or Agriculture; instead I'm taking Defensive Training and Lurlinist Thinking." She leaned against the door. "I'm going out for some air. I'll be back before curfew."

Maeve watched Farah leave, before shaking her head. She had a lunatic as a roommate.

She waited ten or fifteen minutes after Farah left before heading out herself. She walked through the corridors and down the stairs before she finally hit the dwindling sunlight that was outside.

She stared at the sunset as she wandered around. She ended up near Briscoe Hall, the college where the boys lodged. None of the boys seemed to notice a girl in their midst, as most of them were as mystified by the school as she was. She was staring at the building, as there weren't that many tall buildings in Munchkinland.

She walked right into someone, and stumbled back, but she didn't fall – thankfully. "Hey, are you okay?" someone asked.

She looked up, and paled, before turning bright red. She had just walked into a senior; a _male_ senior.


End file.
